Jewell praises group for river cleanup

With the Bob Marshall Wilderness serving as the backdrop, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., praised a group of ranchers and their conservation allies on Saturday for doing what, not too many years ago, was unthinkable. Starting back around 1992, when American Rivers listed the Blackfoot River as one of America’s 10 most endangered waterways, a group of ranchers and conservationists came together to address the problem. In the years that have followed, the effort has expanded beyond anyone’s expectations to encompass a landscape that spreads larger than the boundaries of some Eastern states. More than 600,000 acres have been conserved across the so-called Crown of the Continent, an area that encompasses the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and Glacier National Park. Added together, it all represents the most intact wildland in North America, and it has emerged as a national model. “You know what you’ve got here and how special it is,” Jewell said. “You’re setting a pathway forward that’s sustainable, takes into account the challenges we face in our environment, and recognizes what’s at stake.” While the efforts have been grand in both vision and achievement, much of the success may be traced back to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program established by Congress in 1965. Montana has received $400 million in LWCF funding through the years, Jewell said, and it has helped conserve land while keeping it workable for ranchers and accessible to the public. President Barack Obama is asking Congress to fully fund the program at $900 million, though Jewell said the funding isn’t guaranteed.
Ranchers urged Jewell to fight for the fund’s renewal. Jewell, in turn, said their voices would be needed at the table. “Your voices in particular are really important on this,” Jewell said. “The president has put full funding for LWCF in the budget for 2015, but it will require legislation to get it reauthorized and get it across the finish line.”...more

Thought I was gonna see a nice article showing how local folks could take positive action.  Instead, the whole article is a paean to the Lands & Water Conservation Fund.  Obama has released his budget proposal, its appropriation time, and this whole piece is nothing but a lobbying effort.